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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202807">Did you see that?!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MclarenMuppet/pseuds/MclarenMuppet'>MclarenMuppet</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Formula 1 RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:13:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,428</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202807</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MclarenMuppet/pseuds/MclarenMuppet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This one is based on a request I received on my Tumblr!</p><p>Summary: Jennifer worked her butt off to make her dreams come true, and reconnects with an old friend along the way. He takes her to his world, and that world involves a teammate that leaves an impression on her.</p><p>Side note: I am very new to formula one and don’t know all the drivers all that well, so I kind of wrote Daniel as I imagined he would be as a good, funny friend.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lando Norris/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Did you see that?!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Did you see that, did you see that, did you see that?!” I run across the backstage area, my arms outstretched and my voice getting louder with every sentence as I approach my friend. He laughs as I slam into him for a hug.<br/>“Yeah, you know you invited me right?”<br/>I am bouncing up and down, a big smile on my face as the energy and adrenaline from the show still seems to be stuck inside of my body. It didn’t matter how often I did this, or how tiring the world tour was, nights like these made it more than worth it. <br/>“It was really good to see you perform again, I think last time might have been your school musical.” Daniel says, as we start walking to get out of the way of the people packing up. I smile at him, “I was just a part of the ensemble, though.” He shrugs his shoulders, “Story of my life.” I give him a little push, which does nothing to throw him off balance. <br/>“No, seriously, I am really proud of you. You’ve worked so hard to get here and no one is going to take this away from you.”<br/>I smile and try my best not to get emotional. “We really made it, huh?”  <br/>“Both of our dreams came true and we are actually seeing each other do it.” <br/>I stop in front of my dressing room. “I know you have to leave like right now, but I will see you at your dream next week and we’ll have way more time to catch up.” I say, thinking about my little break coming up and spending it watching him race live for the first time. <br/>“Looking forward to it.” </p><p>I just got here!</p><p>I quickly sent out the text, before grabbing my bag and searching for the way to go.There were a lot of people rushing to get somewhere, and no one seemed to pay attention to me in the middle of it. It was kind of nice to blend in and go unnoticed for once. Except I had no idea where I was meant to be going.<br/>“Jenny!” Damn, Daniel got here fast. He was the one running up to me this time, a big smile on his face and ready for a hug. “Dan! I was worried I wasn’t going to find you.” <br/>“I know, it’s really something huh?” He steps back and grabs something out of his pocket. “Here, you’ll need this to not get kicked out by security.” I grab the lanyard from him and take a look at the info on the pass, laughing as I see there’s even a picture on there. <br/>“Dan, you realize I look nothing like this in daily life, right?” The picture is from the photoshoot from my last album and it’s very glamorous, very pretty and edgy and absolutely nothing like the very minimum of make-up I have on right now. <br/>“I guess I thought you woke up like that.” We both laugh as he starts walking back the way he came, quickly trying to explain some basics to me. We both use our passes to get through some turnstiles and everyone greets us as we walk by, everyone seems to know Daniel and he is an absolute ray of light asking everyone how they are, he is so much still like the boy I grew up with and it warms my heart that being a successful formula one driver hasn’t changed him one bit.<br/>“Okay, I am really excited to show you everything at McLaren, you know that’s my team, right?” I quickly nod, looking at all the orange we’re in front of.  <br/>He introduces me to everyone, and I mean everyone, he can find around the garage. I try to remember everyone’s names, but they all quickly become a blur of orange. Some of them ask me for a picture and most of them ask me to sign something for their daughters, and Daniel lets them know it’s okay if they keep it for themselves. There’s a lot of laughs and everyone is absolutely wonderful, explaining a lot about cars and data and I just kind of nod and smile as I lose track of the complicated things they do in here.</p><p>“It’s not too much, is it?” Daniel asks as soon as people seem to get back to doing what they were doing.<br/>“Are you kidding me? It’s like a big family, everyone is so nice.” I get a feeling I can’t quite understand, but in a way I guess it’s like being homesick. I was all alone on tour, I had no bond with my crew or dancers the way these guys seem to get along together. I always felt like I couldn’t trust anyone new who tried to become my friend;  I guess I was just let down way too often since realizing my big dream and becoming a singer. The very typical and cliché downsides of being famous were a reality for me most days.<br/>“I wish I’d come sooner, honestly Daniel, I am just glad you reached out to me again all those months ago.” I say, remembering the morning I woke up to a slightly drunk Instagram message of him showing me on his television with the text: ‘I need to come see you sing!’<br/>“I do have good ideas when I drink.” He puts his arm around me and pulls me closer as I laugh.<br/>Suddenly, there seems a new bustle of activity as I see a cameraman walking backwards into the garage, his camera on a young man dressed the same as Daniel.<br/>“Oh! You need to come say hi!” Daniel is quick in grabbing my hand and pulling me along towards the new faces, as he seems to have no problem with walking right into frame.<br/>“Lando, this is my friend I was talking about.” Daniel says proudly as he holds out his arms towards me, I smile awkwardly at the big introduction as I reach out to shake his hand. “I’m Jennifer, but just call me Jenny.” He shakes my hand and smiles at me, and that is one heck of a smile. “I’m Lando, nice to meet you.” <br/>“He’s the other McLaren driver, but you probably knew that much, right?” Daniel turns to me, and I just nod again, thinking to myself if I had seen this guy before I would have definitely remembered. “Do you even know how this sport works, Jenny?” Daniel asks, and I can tell I have been completely busted. <br/>I laugh and shake my head, “You go fast and people cheer?” I ask innocently, and both men laugh.<br/>“That’s pretty much it, yeah.” Lando says. <br/>“I’m sorry, I was planning on doing some proper research because the last time I watched formula one was, well, with you.” I say, looking at Dan.<br/>“Okay, okay, we need to teach you some basics or you won’t understand what’s going on today.” He says, looking around as if he’s searching for something.<br/>“Hey, I was just going to get lunch, are you both free to join?” Lando asks. I look up at Dan and he nods. “Yeah, you cool with that?” He asks me. I nod. “I am here to take a peek at your world so, show me the food!” </p><p>Both of them tried their hardest to cram as much formula one knowledge into my head as possible while eating lunch. It was quite hilarious watching both of them trying to be the loudest, correcting each other when they disagreed and there were a lot of YouTube videos and personal pictures being shown. They bickered like a married couple but laughed as if they had always been teammates. They were an absolutely perfect match and I could only imagine the amount of attention these two must get when they were out together.<br/>“You two are awful teachers, but really funny.” I say in between bites. They look at each other and nod. “I’ll take that.” Daniel says. <br/>“Hey, I was curious, how did you two even meet? You never told me.” Lando says, looking at Daniel.<br/>“Our families have been friends since like, forever, so we always hung out. I mean there is an obvious age difference and I definitely held her when she was a baby-” I laugh and shake my head, “We do not talk about that, Dan.” <br/>“I don’t know, we kind of stayed in touch when we both grew up, we both had impossible dreams we were chasing. And just a few months ago I realized I should definitely go to her concert because she has totally made it.”<br/>“It’s really great to see each other after all this time and realize both of our hard work paid off.” I say, feeling emotional after a compliment that big.<br/>“That sounds like a fairytale, to be honest.” Lando says, and I smile.<br/>“Well, part of this fairytale is me needing the toilet. Play nice.” Daniel announces as he stands up and shoots Lando a look. There’s this awkward moment where I feel like a kid being left alone at the grocery store check-out by its parents, but I look to Lando and our eyes meet and I feel a flutter in my stomach. The boy had something about him that I hadn’t seen ever, in anyone. His eyes, his smile, his curls. I wasn’t one to let people in quickly, but he had spoken maybe 10 sentences to me in total and I couldn’t help but want to get to know him. <br/>“He was super excited when you guys made plans to meet up again, he couldn’t stop mentioning it.” Lando breaks the silence, and it’s like we didn’t just stare at each other for 10 seconds straight.<br/>I smile, “I was, too, I honestly don’t have a lot of friends when I’m you know, always working.” <br/>He nods, “Yeah I know how that feels. You sing, right? I am pretty sure my sister went to one of your concerts recently.” <br/>“Really? Oh, that’s so cool! Don’t get me wrong, I worked hard to get here and I am working hard to stay here, but hanging out with Daniel made me realize I’ve kind of been missing out on a few other aspects of life.” I stare at my nails as I realize I kind of shared something personal to a sort of stranger.<br/>“I am just lucky. I have my family visiting from time to time and most of my friends are in the formula one world as well.” Lando says. <br/>“So, I’m guessing you rolled into this world the same way everyone else does? Karting and then…” I say, gesturing with my hands.<br/>“Yeah, pretty much. I was McLaren’s test and reserve driver in 2017.” He says casually. <br/>“Wow, that’s seriously impressive. I mean, you’re one the youngest aren’t you?” <br/>He nods, “Yeah I’m the youngest British formula one driver, back when I joined.” <br/>There’s a silence as I progress this in my mind as he seems to think he said something wrong. “I mean, not saying that to brag or anything, I just-”  I shake my head.<br/>“No, no, I just think that’s really impressive. Like, that must have taken a lot of hard work and determination besides just your talent.” I say, and he seems to relax. “And you seem so, cool and casual about being here.” He laughs.<br/>“I mean, I just enjoy every second of this and remind myself to never stop working hard.”<br/>“It’s funny how we are from two insanely different worlds yet we seem to have that in common.” I smile, he smiles, it’s quite magical if you ask me.<br/>“So you and Daniel aren’t eh, you know…” I look up, surprised by how fast this conversation changed and if I am not mistaken I can see a very faint blush on his cheeks as he casually looks away while taking a sip of his water. “Trust me, there’s no way Daniel and I in a relationship would benefit anyone. I love him to bits but he makes dumb decisions and I want to laugh at them as a friend, not get mad at them as his girlfriend.” Lando turns to look at me again. “That’s good to know.” I open my mouth to ask him why exactly, but the loud scraping of a chair against the flooring interrupts us as Daniel found his way back again. “Sorry that took so long, I am still getting used to his lay-out, was he nice to you?” He asks. I laugh and nod, “A literal angel.” </p><p>I can’t sleep that night, my body still not used to all the travelling and deciding on the most random times to want to rest, which usually didn’t mean the middle of the night. I had put on a sweater and some joggers, and made my way to the little outside area behind the hotel, feeling pretty safe about not running into any paparazzi here. I sit down on the grass and enjoy the fresh, cold air. The moon is bright and I don’t think I’ve seen this many stars up in the sky in a while. <br/>“Don’t-” I literally jump at a voice behind me, standing up and turning around only to see a familiar face in the dark. “Get scared?” He finishes the sentence and we both laugh quietly. “Don’t sneak up on people in the middle of the night if you don’t want them to get scared.” I sit down again and he joins me on the grass. <br/>“Duly noted.” He says, and we sit in a comfortable silence,  both enjoying the night sky. “I told my sister I met you and she kind of lost it.” Lando says. I smile. “She has great taste.” I say. “She does.” <br/>I smile and turn to look at him, only to find him already looking back at me. <br/>“You know, sometimes it still feels so surreal. I watched Daniel work so hard to get here and he was like a big brother to me. Like, I looked up to him and saw him chasing his dreams which inspired me to do the same and now. I mean-” I throw my arms in the air. “Here I am, not remembering which day it is or which country I’m in and everything is suddenly real.” <br/>Talking to Lando seemed like the easiest thing in the world for some reason.<br/>“Yeah, sometimes I look back at my life and think to myself: did I really do all of that?” Lando says softly after a moment of silence.<br/>“So, tell me, what dreams are you chasing now that you’re here?” I ask. <br/>“Woah, you get deep in the middle of the night.” He says, and I laugh.<br/>“Sorry, you don’t have to answer that. It’s been awhile since I had a normal conversation with a normal human being.” We both laugh.<br/>“No, no, I guess I just take things day by day? I mean, I know what I want each season and it’s always about getting better. And personally I always try and remind myself to just enjoy everything. To not forget to live. To have fun. Man, that sounds cliché.” He says.<br/>“Sometimes I like cliché.” I answer. <br/>“Is it weird for me to say there’s something about you that I just really enjoy being around?” My heart jumps and this time I feel myself turn red - thank god for the darkness.<br/>“I am sure you get this all the time, but normally when we meet, you know, celebrities, things are just a bit awkward and it’s very much all just for the cameras.” I feel something brush at my hand and I am pretty convinced it’s his hand looking for mine.<br/>“I liked spending time with you today.” I say suddenly.<br/>“I wish we had more time.” I hear him say quietly.<br/>“Yeah, me too.” I say, realizing very well in a few days I will be back working again and there will be no chance of us seeing each other again. <br/>“I’m excited to see you race tomorrow.” I say, getting up again. <br/>“That’s sweet, I hope you enjoy it.” <br/>I smile, even though I don’t know if he can see it. <br/>“You’re cute, sleep well Lando.”<br/>I walk away from him and find my way back to my room, where thoughts of my hands in his curls and his gorgeous eyes looking at me - only me - drift me to sleep.</p><p>The race was beyond exciting and thrilling to watch. I was in the McLaren garage, given a spot where I couldn’t stand in the way and a nice lady was explaining certain things and decisions being made in the race.  I sat at the edge of my seat the entire time and it went by so fast. Everyone cheered and clapped and hugged when Daniel made P3 and Lando P2. It was an amazing result for the team and I got pulled along to witness Daniel’s first podium for McLaren. There was a lot going on and I missed half of it, but all that mattered was my best friend standing up on that podium with the biggest smile on his face. Celebrating with Lando, with his colleagues, with his team, with his friends. I shed a tear or two.</p><p>The team definitely knew how to celebrate, as it started right after the camera’s turned off, all the way through them packing everything up. It was soon decided there was going to be a small celebration at the hotel and I gladly accepted their invitation to join. I hadn’t seen much of Daniel and Lando all day, but I had an amazing time watching the absolute madness that had caused their wins on the team. </p><p>I was in my hotel room, I had changed into my favourite dress, doing my hair and touching up my make-up before heading down to the very same garden I had escaped to that night. It was filled with people, all unrecognizable in their nice clothes and out of their team wear. There were drinks and snacks and music and I couldn’t help but wonder how they had pulled this off in just a few hours.  I grabbed a drink while still looking for one of just the two people I knew, but Daniel was once again one step ahead.<br/>“Jenny! Did you see that!?” He exclaims, mimicking my own words from just a few weeks ago. I smiled wide as I could tell how utterly happy he was in this moment. <br/>“I cannot believe I saw you get on that podium! It was insane, Dan!” We hugged and I spilled half of my drink in the enthusiasm of it. <br/>“I am so happy you got to see this. Did you enjoy it?” I nod excitedly, “The race was so much fun to watch. It was nerve-wracking oh my God.” I said.<br/>“Dude! Get over here!” Daniel shouted way too close to my ear, and I turned around to see Lando make his way over to us. My heart jumped again. I had been brave in the darkness here, but seeing him looking at me now, after what we had said? I felt like a little girl crushing for the first time. “Jenny, you look great!” Lando seemed confident as he approached me and it made me even more nervous.<br/>“Aw, thanks Lando. I was just talking to Dan about how much I enjoyed seeing the race.” <br/>“You’re definitely a good luck charm, I would say.” Lando says, and I wonder if Daniel picks up on the blush creeping back onto my face.<br/>“Congratulations on that podium, by the way, it was such an insane moment to witness.” I quickly tried to change the subject.<br/>“Thanks, it’s definitely something I’ll never forget. I am glad you were there for it.”<br/>“Hey, hey!” Daniel says loudly again, and it would appear the entire situation went straight by him. “You know when there’s a party where I’m involved, there’s…”<br/>He looks from me to Lando and back again, seemingly expecting one of us to fill the blank. Lando rolls his eyes and laughs as he whispers, “Oh no.”<br/>“There’s karaoke! And I am not going to let this opportunity slip by me to sing with my best friend who’s also the biggest superstar in the world right now!” He’s still shouting as he gets excited and I can’t help but laugh, because it’s actually adorable. “I am definitely not supposed to be singing off-stage while in the middle of my world tour, Dan.” He pouts and looks sad with big puppy dog eyes. “Just one?”<br/>I shake my head.<br/>“Just one, softly singing?” <br/>I laugh and shake my head again.<br/>“For Lando?”<br/>I freeze and his pout turns into a grin.<br/>“Daniel, really?” Lando interferes. Daniel holds up his hands innocently. “Can’t deny that tension.” <br/>The three of us stand there awkwardly, and I decide there’s the only way to get out of this situation.<br/>“Okay Dan, you win, I’ll sing karaoke with you.” He puts down his drink and cheers excitedly. “Just one!” I add, and he already grabs my arms and drags me to the karaoke machine.</p><p>“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, gather around for this once in a lifetime opportunity!” Daniel begins, and I can’t help but laugh. “Or you know, just buy tickets to come see my show.” I add, and people laugh.<br/>“You pick the song, nothing weird please.”  I say to Daniel, and he grins, as if he knew exactly what song he was going to pick. He looks very proud of himself as I hear the intro to one of my very own songs, which is definitely not a duet. I turn to him, confused, only to see him slowly backing away and leaving me on my own. I shake my head and laugh, “I am only doing this because you got on the podium today, okay?”<br/>I literally never sang outside of shows, resting was so important to make sure I could keep doing this and I barely had anyone to talk to. These few days had been the busiest I had been privately for a long time. I enjoyed performing, obviously, and I would become a lot more confident, especially when singing one of my own songs. Walking out would just be lame and it wouldn’t be fair to not give my all right now, right?<br/>I had no idea how this particular crowd would react, but I just went with it and had an absolute blast singing with a karaoke machine in a random hotel’s yard with people I barely knew. People sang along, people filmed and Daniel and Lando were front and center, enjoying themselves.</p><p>Both Daniel and Lando were obviously being kept busy all night, with loads of people who wanted to talk to them, and after my little karaoke rock-out, some people came up to me. Which was more than nice, because I wouldn’t have had the guts to approach anyone else. Some people I recognized up close, others were completely new faces who introduced themselves kindly. <br/>After cooling down and making sure my make-up was still intact, I went around the party, which was slowly dying down, and had my eyes looking for a very specific person. I took a deep breath when I spotted him and walked up to him. “Lando, I was looking for you.” I say, lucky to catch him alone near the snacks. “Jen, I am so sorry I didn’t find you sooner.” He says, smiling.<br/>“Wait, what did you call me?” I ask, and he frowns, clearly thinking he said something wrong.<br/>“It’s just, no one ever really calls me Jen.” I say. “Oh ehm, sorry, I can just-”<br/>“No, silly,” I laugh. “I like it.” <br/>“I enjoyed hearing you sing.” He says.<br/>“Ah, thanks, Daniel kind of put me on the spot there.” I laugh.<br/>“Hey ehm…” He starts while scratching the back of his head. “Look, I am not sure how to say this but I just- I mean you fly back tomorrow right?” <br/>My heart drops and I nod, realizing how fast these days went by.<br/>“I realize you’re here for Daniel, and don’t feel obliged to say yes but, I would just really like to spend time together. I mean time that is just you and me and not in the middle of the night.” <br/>If I were trying to seem neutral, my smile would instantly give me away. I didn’t even care if this was a stupid decision or not, I couldn’t just leave and forget about him because that would be the easier path to take here.<br/>“I would really, really like that, Lando.”</p><p>I looked at my phone, disappointed to still not see the one notification I was hoping for. It had been two months since I hopped on a plane back to my next tour destination, with both my heart and head all over the place. I had been scared that that had been it, a couple of magical days and an amazing connection, but the contact bleeding out because we were both so busy and so very much on different sides of the world most times. We texted and called every single day, even if one of us was way too busy - we would send pictures of what we were doing during the days and he’d already picked up a call of me absolutely in tears because of a bad day. He had been the sweetest, funniest and most perfect guy and I couldn’t deny I was falling for him hard and fast.</p><p>Today though, there had been nothing. No good morning, no silly tooth-brushing selfie, no bragging about fancy cars, no voice messages or video calls. I worried, but I also had a show in 10 minutes and it’s the first time I don’t feel able to focus on work fully. I look in the mirror and take a few deep breaths, before getting up and walking to the stage.<br/>Everything changed again when I started singing, when I saw all those people, when I heard all the screams. I didn’t think of anything anymore. It was during my third song I took a good look at the people closest to the stage and recognized two very familiar faces. It was the best show I had ever done.</p>
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